Digital Cabinet Locks Bring Freedom From Keys With Greater Access Control

    Pages-from-p108-115Instead of using locks and keys to secure cabinets and lockers, more and more healthcare, educational and leisure organisations are opting for the convenience brought by the modern keyless digital lock. Battery-operated push button locks can save businesses the cost of replacing lost keys or having to replace locks when the keys are stolen.

     

    They can also help prevent locker hogging. In this situation, people either take the locker key home with them or leave their personal padlock on the locker, which prevents anyone else from using it. As many gyms and fitness centres don’t have the space to offer every user a private locker, it’s an increasingly common problem.

     

    Ben Stacey, general manager and co-owner of The Fitness Centre, explains why his members were becoming increasingly frustrated by the apparent lack of locker space.

     

    “We were getting regular complaints from members about not having enough lockers, even when the gym was quiet 70-80% of the lockers were locked,” said Ben. “But when we looked into the problem, it wasn’t because there were not enough, it was because people were keeping the locker keys and using the lockers as their own, and we simply didn’t have enough lockers for members to reserve them for their personal use.”

     

    The KitLock 1000 can help solve this problem. Fitted in place of a standard cam lock, it provides simple keypad access without the hassle of keys, coins or tokens. Instead, access is gained by entering a four-digit code on the keypad. Its slim design means it can be fitted to a wide range of lockers, cabinets or cupboards, in right- or left-hand, horizontal or vertical orientations.

     

    The digital lock can be configured to allow either private or public access. In ‘private’ function, the same access code is used again and again by an individual or a small group of people. This function is ideal for use with personal lockers or cupboards in schools and in many workplaces. In ‘public’ function the locker is accessed with a ‘one-time’ user code, where the code is used to secure and open the locker only once, and then erased. The digital lock is then ready for the next person to select a code.

     

    Using a ‘technician code’, the digital lock can be opened without affecting the code selected by the user. In gyms and fitness centres, employees often use this code to open all of the changing room lockers at the end of the day to check for left contents and to leave them easily accessible for cleaning. This process prevents lockers from having to be put ‘out of action’ while more keys are cut, saving the organisation time and money.

     

    The KitLock 1000 has recently been enhanced to allow users to generate time-sensitive access codes from a remote location. This function is useful where service engineers, for example, need unaccompanied access to machinery or equipment locked inside cabinets.

     

    Using the secure NetCode web-based application, users are able to create a time sensitive access code from any browser-capable, internet-enabled device and send it via SMS text message or by email direct to the engineer’s phone on the day and at the time the authorised access is required. The code will not work outside a designated timeslot. The application also enables users to set up and manage a ‘whitelist’ of authorised mobile phone numbers, allowing any mobile on the list to request a NetCode via an inbound SMS message.

     

    NetCode works by configuring the locks prior to dispatch with a unique matching algorithm to the web-based software, which allows it to predict that access code on the installed lock at any given time. Users activate their locks on the NetCode portal before they are installed at a remote site.

     

    Battery-operate keyless locks from KitLock are easy to fit, taking just a few minutes to remove the existing lock from the door and make an additional top fixing. Once in place, a KitLock 1000 can perform up to 15,000 openings on just two AAA batteries.

     

    For more information, visit: www.kitlock.com.au